Replied by Art from California on 07/16/2026

There are several reasons why this could happen with D-Limonene. One potential cause in your case is that D-limonene has antimicrobial activities which would affect the gut microbiome balance. That further disruption in the gut microbiome could potentially be enough to alter glucose readings either up or down depending on which bacterial species in the gut microbiome are affected. D- limonene does tend to target pathogenic bacteria over healthy bacteria, but it can still kill some healthful bacteria.

Newer research suggests that gut dysbiosis is highly prevalent in diabetes and the D-limonene can add further to that dysbiosis if the dose is high enough and this could potentially explain your higher glucose readings when using D-Limonene. The following 2025 link takes you to a review of research explaining how prevalent gut dysbiosis is diabetes.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2024.1486793/full

Here is a relevant quote from the review of research :

' This systematic review demonstrates a strong association between T2DM and gut dysbiosis, as evidenced by differential microbial abundances and altered diversity indices. '

Gut dysbiosis is also highly prevalent among people using PPIs.

Another option to D-limonene that you can consider and discuss with your doctor is a supplement called Dihydroberberine which tends to kill inflammation promoting gut bacteria while increasing short chain fatty acids in your gut microbiome which would be a very healthful thing to do. It also has the potential to lower your glucose and HbA1c levels into the normal range.

Art